


Plain White Tee

by gblvr



Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Holiday, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-06-26
Updated: 2009-06-26
Packaged: 2017-10-02 10:19:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 999
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5252
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gblvr/pseuds/gblvr
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The first year in Atlantis, presents were whatever they could get their hands on.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Plain White Tee

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the_oscar_cat's Secret SGA Christmas Podfic Anthology 2007; my prompt was "Christmas wrapping"

The first year in Atlantis, presents were whatever they could get their hands on. People gave each other plants, hand carved boxes, discs of music, those color-changing geodes they found on MX5-PY3.... Miko painted scrolls on paper she made of recycled computer print outs, Elizabeth translated poetry and science texts, and Radek gave people bottles of his refined hooch -- much smoother than his earliest batches, and one shot was all you needed for a nice buzz.

Rodney gave Teyla a translated poem painted onto one of Miko's scrolls. Ford got a stack of CDs. He gave John an unbroken geode and a hammer, along with a note telling him to 'wait until you really need some stress relief' to break it. He bartered with Radek for an extra bottle of hooch, and told the three of them it was team gift. Rodney was one of the few people who wrapped his gifts -- he wrapped each one in a plain white t-shirt, and when he presented them, he told everyone he needed the shirts back.

John didn't give back the shirt: he told Rodney he wanted to keep his present protected until he got it back to his room. What he really wanted was to keep the t-shirt -- Rodney had the best t-shirts for sleeping in, over-sized and washed to plush softness. None of John's t-shirts ever lasted that long -- they all got torn, or bloodied, or torn *and* bloodied, and none of his were as loose as Rodney's.

The Wraith showed up on the long-range scanners the next day, and by the time they'd fooled the Wraith into thinking Atlantis was destroyed, and lost Ford to God only knows where, Rodney had forgotten all about his t-shirt. John slept in it until the laundry sent it back to Rodney.

The next year, Rodney ordered gifts from Earth, but he still wrapped them in t-shirts, and again, John just didn't bother to give his back. This time he marked a 'JS' on the tag in back, so the laundry would send it back to him. Rodney asked about it, but John changed the subject, and Rodney forgot all about it when the next crisis came up.

Year three was more gifts from Earth, wrapped in t-shirts, and again, John kept the shirt his gift was wrapped in. By now he'd admitted to himself that he was more than a little in love with Rodney, but he wasn't ever going to tell Rodney that. Being with Rodney would be complicated, and life in Pegasus was hard enough without adding a relationship to the mix.

 

John yelled 'come in' to whoever was ringing the chime at his door; he was in the bathroom, trying to decide if he needed to shave for the Holiday party. He was already late, so he decided not to bother. When he stepped out into the main room, Rodney was standing at the door, twisting the hem of his white t-shirt between his fingers.

"Oh, hey, Rodney. I'm just about ready to go, so you can go and tell Sam that I'm not blowing off her party."

"Yeah, I, um. I...I just wanted to give you this before we...I mean. I have something for you, but I think this is a gift better given in private."

John looked at Rodney's empty hands. "Uh...give me what?"

Rodney crossed the room in three big steps and pulled John in close. "This -- I want to give you this." And with that, he grabbed John by the shoulders and pulled him down enough to kiss him. John was so stunned that he didn't even think to kiss back until Rodney was already backing away.

"I knew this was a bad idea -- I mean, you probably had a valid reason for keeping my t-shirts, and me thinking you were doing it because you wanted m-- It was stupid of me to think you'd ever...." His shoulders slumped, and he turned toward the door. "Can we just forget this ever happened?"

John thought for a long minute. His life would be so much less complicated if he didn't do this, but...he'd wanted this for so long, and he was tired of waiting and wanting. He was tired of making do with t-shirts and sleeping alone. He wanted to have this. He wanted Rodney, wanted his snarky mind and weird food allergies and gifts wrapped plain white t-shirts, wanted to kiss him and see what was hiding under that soft-soft-soft shirt, wanted to wake up every morning with Rodney and his fucked-up morning hair and sleep-heavy eyes.

"No."

Rodney's shoulders slumped even further, and he sighed. "I understand. Of course I won't mention this to anyone, and I'll...I'll just--"

"No, Rodney, that's not what I meant." John crossed the room to stand behind Rodney. "I don't want to forget it, and yeah, I was bogarting your t-shirts for the reason you think I was."

Rodney turned around and practically threw himself at John in the same movement. John rocked a bit against Rodney's bulk, but managed to keep them upright long enough to push Rodney against the wall next to the door. Rodney was kissing him again, and this time, John was kissing back, biting gently at Rodney's crooked lower lip, sucking his tongue into his mouth, tracing the thin softness of his upper lip with his tongue. They stood against the wall and kissed for a long time, hard kisses and almost chaste kisses, soft kisses and wet, lingering kisses that felt like sex.

When they came apart, they stood with foreheads pressed together, breathing each other's air, and John ran his hands up and down Rodney's sides, pressing into the soft cotton of Rodney's t-shirt with his fingertips. When he felt he could speak without sounding like he'd been out running with Ronon, he pulled back slightly to press another kiss to Rodney's kiss swollen lips, and asked, "Does this mean I get to keep the shirt?"

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Plain White Tee (The Three Musketeers' Remix)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/45908) by [mayachain](https://archiveofourown.org/users/mayachain/pseuds/mayachain)




End file.
